Women Act to Protest Against the Abuse of
Chinese Women and Girls in Indonesia

The International Human Rights Legal
Group/Womens Rights Advocacy Program (IHRLG/WRAP) sent a letter to president Habibie
and other officials in Indonesia to protest against the violent abuse perpetrated on women
and girls from the Chinese ethnic minority during the recent riots in May 1998 in this
country. The letter demands that the government: offer immediate medical attention to the
victims; order a complete investigation of the incidents and prosecute those responsible
for them; establish measures against police or military personnel who, according to
reports, witnessed several incidents and did nothing to protect the women. Thirty-five
NGOs from all over the world signed the letter expressing their deep concern to the
Indonesian government as well as their total support to the women in this country.

IHRLG/WRAP now wishes to send a follow-up letter
at the end of July to reinforce the protest and the action demands. You can support this
letter in two ways:

Sameena Nazir has
connected education and human rights for women through programs that teach
marketable skills and basic education throughout the Rawalpindi region.
Her work is particularly appealing because she has found ways of engaging
men in the struggle for human rights, coordinated a massive earth-quake
relief effort after the tragedy in Kashmir, and ensured that girls attend
school.

Globalrights - Grave
violations of women’s human rights continue to occur worldwide with
terrifying regularity. Women throughout the world face systematic
gender-based discrimination and are regularly denied the right to life and
security of person, full legal capacity, health care, education,
employment, inheritance, and freedom of movement. Women still do not have
full access to economic and political decision-making processes in their
families, nations, or international institutions. Too often, governments
allow crimes against women to go unpunished, continuing a culture of
impunity for family members, state agents, and others who discriminate or
commit violence against women.